Chapter 4: Mirkwood And A Creature Of The Night
Almost there. We're in the Mirkwood Forest, and close to the Enchanted River. I wonder who named that. It's rather close to my power name. Maybe it has powers too?
The sun shines bright. The winds blow strong and the flowers dance to its tune. But there is another voice in the air. A foul sound. I turn my head to Riharu to ask, "Do you hear that?"
"No. What is it that you hear?" he replies, starting to slow his horse down a bit.
"Almost like a hissing sound. Never mind, I guess." I tell him.
After about 15 minutes of us moving forward, a guard yells, "Araña!" What? Araña. . . spider? No. It cannot be. But it can. And it is. Ahead of us is a massive spider. Without even thinking, a terrified shriek leaves my mouth. It's hungry for a meal and the satisfaction of a kill. I'm hungry for safety and the option to rid myself of its horrid face.
The two guards and Riharu pull out their swords. It looks as if it's readying itself to charge us. I'm just frozen in fear. If my hair wasn't already silver, the shock of this magnitude would sure do it.
In a desperate need to leave, I yell to Riharu, "Riharu! I'm completely afraid of spiders and we can't kill this thing on our own! What do we do?"
He looks around. It looks like he's searching for someone. . .something. . .someplace. But to no avail.
Wait.
I see something maybe a league away. A mountain. King Thranduil! We need to get to that castle or whatever it's called. "Riharu! I think I see our destination up ahead."
"Jui? Koir? Can you hold it off? I must get the princess to safety!" Riharu yells to the other guards. They look just as terrified as I am. They tell him yes before the spider starts squirming to us.
"We will send help!" He yells at the guards and then looks at me and says, "Come! Follow me and keep up!" With that, he kicks his horse into a run and I'm right next to him. We make way for the mountain.
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What if we don't get help in time? Will the guards be dead? What if they're already in a web somewhere? How is it possible for a spider to get that big!
We're getting closer and closer to the Elven king's place when I start gasping for air. The image of that spider plays in my head over and over again.
"We're almost there. It'll be okay. Just. . . hang on. Please." Riharu says after he sees my behavior. All I can do is nod. I can't let this affect me or the mission. It was just a spider. Just a big spider.
We're closer than ever to the mountain in which the cave system is located. I think I could just call the cave system the Elven king's kingdom or palace. The large gate is right in view. The Elven guards see us and immediately shout something in elvish.
The gates open and we're met with two guards, talking in elvish. Riharu tells them, "We don't speak elvish. This is Lady Enchantment. She was invited here for the feast." He gestures to me during the last part. They look over at me. I'm sure they're confused as to why it looks like I just saw a ghost.
Riharu tells them about the spider and how our men need help. They go back and forth, until, another Elven guard comes and tells the other guards something in elvish. Next thing I know, Riharu and I are being escorted inside.
We follow the guards to. . . where I suspect the king is located. Vast halls with a drop of doom covered by bridges surround us. It's such a colossal place, that I wouldn't expect it to be lit like this. We stop in this huge room with steps leading to a large chair. And in that chair, sits King Thranduil. He has a large wooden crown on his head and is in a very pretty, white tunic. Next to him is a young Elf. A boy who's obviously taller than me. Looks to be six-two. So Thranduil must be six-three or four. Not much of a height difference there. He has blond long hair just like Thranduil. Thranduil's hair is slicked back, all the way down his back, and the boy's hair has two small braids tied into a ponytail to the back while the rest of his hair flows graciously. They have pointy ears, too. I'm guessing this is his son. They are both quite beautiful. If I was looking for love, his son would be the first one I would go to. Except, I am a witch.
"You are the witch who was invited to the Feast of Starlight." Thranduil says, looking me up and down. He comes closer to me. Investigating me.
It's okay, Enchantment. How hard can it be to talk to an Elven king? I look him in the eye and say, "Yes, King Thranduil. Um, anyways," a nervous chuckle escapes, "My men are out there. A spider was attacking them and—"
"I've sent some of my best guards out there to retrieve them—and kill the spider if it's not already dead. You are a witch, correct?" he cuts me off. I stand a bit straighter. I cannot believe I said 'um'. It's over with now anyways. Without a thought, I take a quick glance at his son and then the high ceiling. Seeing as it is a cave kingdom, I would expect no different.
He must've noticed my curiosity towards his look-alike because he looks at the boy and then back at me to say, "That is my son, Legolas. We've heard so much about you. What is it that you can do? Witch-wise of course." It almost seems he's somehow fascinated with me.
I look at Riharu. Right now, I don't even know what I can do. I wish I would've just stayed home. "You're fine. . . Just, humor him." Riharu tells me through his mind.
I breathe in through my nose, steadying myself a bit more. "I can move things without touching it. I can read minds and auras. I can even do shields and forcefields around people sometimes. The list goes on and on, but I don't wish to bore you with boring things about me." I say. My eyes never left King Thranduil's.
"Boring things? Quite the contrary. Maybe over the feast tonight I can get to know even more about you." he smirks, and not in a flirty way. "Legolas, show them to where they'll be staying for the time being."
Riharu jumps in to say, "What about our men? I cannot rest until I know they've been found."
"Do not worry. My men will find them. When they arrive, I'll be sure to let someone inform you." Thranduil responds.
Legolas looks at me, gesturing for me to follow him with his graceful hand. Riharu and I follow him down complex, complicated halls. I try not looking down for the fear of falling down into the darkness below us. The twisted paths make me dizzy.
We follow the Elf until we make it to a room. Legolas looks at Riharu and says, "This is where you will be staying with the other guards." But what if they're dead? I don't want to believe it. . . I can't. Riharu gives me one last look before going into his temporary room. Legolas then takes me to another room not too far away.
I walk in, a little cautious of it all. Behind me, Legolas says, "I see you didn't bring clothes. I can go get you some."
I turn around to face him and tell him, "It's alright. I won't be here for long. What I'm wearing is fine. A change of clothes was on the packing donkey. . . Which is probably dead now by that spi-spider."
Not good, not good! Did I really just stutter?
He draws his eyebrows together and says, "You are afraid of spiders." That seemed more like a statement than question. He clears his throat softly and adds, "I heard in a tale that witches have something called power names. It defines who they are for the most part, right?"
"Well, kind of. Mine is Enchantment. But don't worry, it doesn't really work on Elves right now."
"Right now?"
"I'm still pretty young. My powers still have much progressing to do." I tell him, smiling. I really can't help it, he's interesting. I've never been this close to an Elf before. Never seen such . . . perfection. I didn't even realize how hard I was staring into his light sapphire eyes.
He cleared his throat, taking me out of my trance. "Well, I must get going. When I'm not shooting arrows, I'm doing something else. It was nice meeting you, Lady Enchantment." he tells me before starting to walk out.
"Bye." I say to his back. And like that, he's gone. His aura was incomprehensible. I have no idea what's going on with his emotions. Maybe they just aren't meant to be read.
